What's New in Video Games: November 2018

Become a Pokemon Master in Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Eevee on Switch.

October was full of major video game releases (Super Mario Party, anyone?), and November is no slouch either. With games like Pokemon: Let’s, Go Pikachu and Eevee and Fallout 76 on the horizon, November has plenty of new games for kids to enjoy on their own, and for parents to play after the littles have left the room.

Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee are the latest video games in the popular Pokemon franchise. They’re set in a world inspired by Pokemon Yellow, which was released on Game Boy in 1999, but they offer a more casual experience than traditional Pokemon role-playing games (RPGs). Each game will allow players to become a Pokemon trainer and travel the in-game world, capturing Pokemon using a capture system that’s similar to the one from Pokemon Go. If you or your kiddos have played Pokemon Go, you can transfer critters from the mobile game into Let’s Go and add them to your team. The game includes a cooperative multiplayer feature, which will allow two players to team up and explore the in-game world together. Users can also trade Pokemon and compete in Pokemon battles with other users in the same room or online.

Capitalizing on nostalgia for years gone by, the Spyro Reginited Trilogy contains updated versions of the first three Spyro games: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Each game is full of colorful and varied platforming levels, which challenge players to help a small purple dragon named Spyro defeat enemies and collect treasures. If you played these games when you were younger, you’ll notice a major difference in the Reignited Trilogy right off the bat: the in-game worlds have been updated with new, modern graphics that give the game a fresh look, while retaining the gameplay we knew from way back when.

Great If Your Kids Love:Skylanders, Yooka-Laylee, the Lego video games

Fallout 76Rated MInappropriate for young teens and children

Fallout 76 is an online multiplayer game set 25 years after nuclear war rocked the Earth. Players will leave their underground Vaults and make a new life for themselves as they explore a digital version of West Virginia. Gameplay allows users to complete quests, collect resources, build bases, and more. The game’s multiplayer features let users team up with, or compete against, other players in their quest to survive. Fallout 76 is rated M for mature, with content descriptors for “Blood and Gore,” “Drug Reference,” “Intense Violence,” and “Strong Language,” so this is one only adults should enjoy.

Try These Games Instead: Minecraft, Horizon: Zero Dawn

Battlefield VRated MInappropriate for young teens and children

This mature first-person shooter is set during World War II, and it allows players to experience a single-player story, as well as compete against other users in online multiplayer matches (where they may be exposed to crude language and other adult conversations). With an M rating and content descriptors for “Blood,” “Strong Language,” and “Violence,” this shooter is only appropriate for adults.

Managing Editor

Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek’s Social Pro Daily. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.